If it was a moderator then I'd say it'd be only fair to get some information about the whats, wheres and whys.

If not, then it could've been only the thread's creator. If you think your thread isn't cool enough anymore, then A) think better before creating threads and/or B) (if it derailed into off-topic) ask a mod to do something before you gonna delete the whole thread. Should the topic itself have been insuffcient, then it surely hadn't reached 3 pages, or mods would have been intervening earlier.

Yeah, I know about these more recent messages, which are now gone. I also know that if (last) messages are deleted the thread's "last posting time" goes "down". I thought something like this happend, that's why I looked 4 times all the way down the page and then used my browsers "search page"-function searching for "prayers" too - nothing. It was gone for sure. Now it's cleaned up and back again. Fine so.

It's extremely rare for a thread to actually be deleted in the JK.net forums. It's usually locked, plus getting an edit if needed. I'd tend to think of mainly server problems for such an incident. About getting rid of deletion - I like having the option to delete my posts. I've used it to eliminate things I said that were redundant, irrelevant, etc. in the past. Not letting people delete posts just doesn't seem to have any real positive effects.

Some things have been deleted here and there, but remember that there's a reason for it. The mods don't get rid of posts on a whim.

It's late. It's been a wacky month or so. I was inspired by a thread in Ahto that referenced Monty Python and the Holy Grail in order to explain how Moderators determine why posts get deleted. Minor groan alert here and there.

The Book of Moderatoricus, Chapter 945, verses 487-592, spaketh thusly:

Thou shalt purge the forums of these Three forms of Evil Posts, and Three forms only. Two shalt thou not countest to, unless thou next proceedest to Three. Thou shalt not countest to Four, and Five is right out.

The Post of the First Evil is (cover thine eyes) nakedness of the most unholiness, which thou shalt callest 'Porn'. Thou shalt smite down all Pr0n, deleting it posthaste, and thou shalt report it to thine Administrator for the punishment of the Perma-Ban, nay, even the IP Ban, where thus go the pornographers, banished to internet hell. Shouldst they be so bold as to include children in their most unholy images, thou shalt also report them to the FBI, nay, even America's Most Wanted (which is likely the greater in effectiveness), wherefore they shalt be caught, brought to justice, and verily, perhaps even eunuchized, shouldst they be so lucky, lest they become known in the Unholy Incarceration as "Bubba's Sweetheart." Praise be to the Administration.

The Post of the Second Evil shalt thou callest "Flaming." Verily, this is not the Flame of Truth as delineated in the Book of Moderatoricus chapter 848 Verses 87-981, but truly it is the evil where one forumiticus dost spew nasty and unpleasant words from his desktop unto another forumiticus via, well, the forum. Thou shalt not tolerate posters being evil and mean to one another such as 'you suck!' and 'you are beyond stupid if you like the Smurfs' (even shouldst it be the Truth), as the Book of Moderatoricus preaches love and harmony for all. Thou shalt deletest posts of a flamey nature, and thou shalt Warn the Poster (see the Book of Warnings, Chapter 3240, verses 485-999). Shouldst the Warned Poster proceedest with further Flames, thou shalt invoke the Holy Ban, either thineself or via thine Administrator, lest the Flamer continue to fire up the forum with their heated exchanges. Thou shalt offer a Second Chance to the Flamer shouldst he Repent of his Flaming Ways and become a regular, non-flaming forumiticus, but thou shalt stay ever vigilant for Flaming upon the boards. Praise be to the Administration.

The Post of the Third Evil shalt thou callest 'Spam', but only after making upon thyself a Holy Sign, lest thou be contaminatedest by the foul odor of the Potted Meat Product, worshipped in the Unholy 'Museum of Spam' out in BFE Minnesota. I kiddest not, there is such an Unholy place, look it up on thine internet. 'Spam' posts doeth not contribute to the thread, verily, they are useless and clutter the Holy Thread. Nay, verily, they waste thread space and the Holy Reader's time plowing through pure crap, such as 'One-Word' Posts, 'I agree' Posts, 'Dude!!!' Posts, 'No sh!t' Posts, and Other Posts of a Non-Contributory Nature. Thou shalt also consider Off-Topic posts to be Spam, and shouldst a forumiticus discuss Raniskrans in a thread wholly undevoted to Raniskrans, thou shalt delete such Spam posts immediately. Thou art allowed to take the time to eat thine dinner before deleting Spam posts, however, especially if thy dinner includes pizza, as fresh pizza is always best when it's hot, and it would be Sinful not to Enjoy thine pizza.
Whenst thou dost see 'Spam' and deletest it, thou shalt Warn repeated Posters of the Spamacious variety to "Stop it right now!" lest they continue in their sinful, Spamming Ways. Shouldst they continue in posts of a Spamacious nature, thou shalt Invoke the Holy Ban , and if the offenses are to boost the Holy Count of the Post, thou shalt reduce the Offender's Post Count to below 1000 (see the Book of the Count of Posts, chapter 3894, verses 194-573), nay, even to zero, shouldst the spam be of a truly annoying nature. Praise be to the Administration.

Thou shalt not delete posts upon Thine Whim, nor shalt thou ever delete a post just because thou 'Dost not Like it.' Shouldst thou repeatedly delete posts in a capricious manner, thine Administrators shall Frown Upon You, and shall reduce or delete thy post counts, too, yea verily, even unto Zero, thus busting you back down to buck Private again. Praise be to the Administration.

Shouldst thou have any questions, thou shalt first read the Book of Moderatoricus in its entirety. Thine Administrators wish to help, but not if you are not willing to RTFM. Praise be to the Administration.

Amen.

From MST3K's spoof of "Hercules Unchained"--heard as Roman medic soldiers carry off an unconscious Greek Hercules on a 1950's Army green canvas stretcher: "Hi, we're IX-I-I. Did somebody dial IX-I-I?"

Yes, I had several posts deleted in that thread.
But that is going to happen, Ray.
The mods here got a low tolerance for undesirable comments.
My comments about my opinions on God was edited by the FCC in that thread .
So, can't do nothing about it.

Some things have been deleted here and there, but remember that there's a reason for it. The mods don't get rid of posts on a whim.

Usually, and especially in the Chambers, 3 page threads don't get deleted silently by a mod. There is also a reason why threads can be closed, and this is also what normally happens in here. Furthermore, I have no problem with deletion at all, but with giving no information why it was done (except spam or the like). However, I do not think it was deleted by lf staff, nor is this thread addressing them in a direct manner, because they usually give information why, or at least a warning that it will happen.

And yes, thread deletion should be possible only for mods, since users can only delete their own threads by deleting the first post, anyway. If, for some reason, a user thinks his thread is not worth to exist any longer, he can ask a mod to do something about it, but closing the thread would still be the most appropriate option in most cases then.

As for deleting own posts, the only valid reason to delete a post is double posting the same post. For everything else there is the edit function. Deleting posts disturbs the thread's chronology, and thus may take the following posts somewhat out of context. Okay, so would editing the post's content do, but at least everyone can see the post was edited.

Also, do not try to turn this into anti-mod-sumtin, or else I err will uuhhmmmm call Jae for another toruhmborerrlengtsk..enlightening post?

Well of course the Holocaust thread was deleted, that was my doing because it quickly degenerated into a flame war. I felt it appropriate to do so before the mods came in and did something themselves (bannings).

Since you managed to turn three short rules into that when I just said there's a reason, it clearly is.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

@Nancy--IIRC, deleting a thread also drops the post count of anyone who's posted in that thread. The delete thread feature is turned off in the Kotor forum for that reason, but every forum is a little different and has its own unique features/needs.

From MST3K's spoof of "Hercules Unchained"--heard as Roman medic soldiers carry off an unconscious Greek Hercules on a 1950's Army green canvas stretcher: "Hi, we're IX-I-I. Did somebody dial IX-I-I?"

When you sum it all up, the mods don't need a reason to close any thread. Nor, do they have to give a reason. It is up to them to keep things civil and organized. Whatever their reasoning is, they have all right to do so.

In my experiance far too great a percentage of mods are ego masterbating jerks who see punishing members, not because of any rule they might have broken; simply because they can, as a badge of honor and pissing off others with how high and mighty they are a treat. I am greatful to say however that's not the case here. I have found things here to be even handed and fair and while I don't agree with all the opinions of those who are mods I don't see the issues in them I see in those who are simply internet bullies with moderation powers.

I'm glad you ended your post the way you did Nancy, I was about to start randomly deleting your posts and locking your threads for no reason.
I don't do many forums outside of LF, but I think the moderators at LF are fantastic. Especially the ones for Yoda's Swamp.